Thursday, July 17, 2014

All kinds of
legal proceedings require a witness’s account to tie up all details and make
sense of documents that have been gathered through a subpoena to compile
evidences. There are times, however, when the narration of an ordinary witness,
or even the impeachment of a hostile witness, is not enough to make judges and
jurors understand certain facts and issues that involve highly technical or
specialized forms of knowledge. This is where expert witnesses come in.

An expert
witness can be any professional who is regarded as a respected member in their
field. Expert witnesses are more commonly called in for cases involving, but
are not limited to, personal injury or criminal cases wherein their testimonies
are deemed to be vital in shedding light on matters involving medical science,
toxicology, and other related specializations.

There are some
things that distinguish an expert witness from the other types of witnesses.
Expert witnesses are not necessarily related to any party in the cases where
they are giving their testimony. Another distinction is that they are the only
kind of witnesses allowed by the general rules of court to give opinion and
draw conclusions as long as it is related to their field of expertise. Their
objectivity and specialized knowledge make them vital in winning a case for or
against plaintiffs in a personal injury lawsuit.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

One
of the most significant pieces of evidence presented in a driving under the
influence (DUI) case will be the suspect’s blood alcohol content (BAC). The BAC
level is often determined in a breathalyzer test, but the numbers are not just
markers. They can also help identify how impaired the suspect was from the
drinking. A forensic toxicology professional may assist pegging the degree, and
all states will have an associated threshold.

Persons
with a BAC of between 0.06% and 0.10% often experience problems with depth
perception, reasoning, and vision, as well as lowered levels of pleasure.
Speech slurs, slower reflexes, and mood swings are hallmarks of BACs between
0.11% and 0.20%. You may have witnessed incidents where the drunk suspect
forcefully brushed off people and groggily insisted nothing was wrong with
them.

BACs
of 0.21% up to 0.29% trigger potential memory blackouts, loss of consciousness,
and seriously impaired sensations. People should watch out if the BAC cracked
the 0.30% barrier, however. The suspect can be flitting in and out of
consciousness, depressed, or is close to death because of drops in the heart
rate.

Determining the BAC
and the associated effects will make a difference in building a case against
the suspect. The police will also assist with other facts.

ABOUT

Dr. Nachman Brautbar is a board-certified internist and nephrologist, with a specialization in toxicology. His list of past and present academic appointments include: Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Visit us at http://www.environmentaldiseases.com/ for more information.